age and society

About 6 months before my sixtieth birthday I was listening to two young friends who would soon turn 30. They were both talking as if they were about to turn a hundred. After listening to them for a while I laughed and said in a cheerful tone of voice “What are you on about! Next year I’m going to be…!” I stopped, suddenly and unexpectedly overwhelmed by the most intense feeling of vulnerability. Up until that moment I’d always felt that age had nothing to do with who I am.